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The Winterfest Heist

It was a sad morning at the Malones. Despite the fact that everyone knew why they were off of school and work for the day, there were no decorations up, and nobody had any illusions that any would suddenly appear. The recent move had left very little in the way of extra funds, and the family wasn't exactly the best at remembering to celebrate holidays, anyway. Neither Bennie nor Marnie had said anything about it being Winterfest, and the kids didn't really expect anything, especially this year.

Bennie, for one, was worried the bills had arrived on Monday, and it was now Wednesday. There was still no way he was going to be affording them. And he didn't know how to tell Marnie. Winterfest was the farthest thing from his mind.

Everyone had gotten up and taken care of the morning needs, helped out with the cleaning, and paid some attention to the twins, who really didn't know what they were missing out on.

Then - at about 10 AM, the doorbell rang. Phoenix answered it.. only to find Benji and his girlfriend standing on the doorstep with a huge pine tree, and a large, lumpy trash bag. Benji swiped up his little brother in a big hug, and laughed. "Merry Winterfest, Phoenix!!" he said loudly, and the whole family was slowly trickling into the living room, completely agog at the spectacle.

Before you knew it, the tree had been drug inside, leaving a trail of pine needles and sap behind, and everyone was excitedly decorating.

The other bag proved to be full of wrapped presents with carefully printed gift tags, and nobody knew quite what to make of it. They certainly weren't written in Benji's handwriting, so Shaylee was clearly in on this surprise, too.

As soon as the tree was up, Benji announced that he couldn't wait to give the gifts out ...

... and promptly handed the first gift to little Brett. With a wonder only a toddler is quite capable of, he opened the box and found a new talking llama toy - which he put to use almost immediately. It even had working batteries!!

The present opening continued, with everyone exclaiming lavishly over each gift, and thinking in the back of their mind for ideas for something they could possibly repurpose to give to Benji in return.

Benji, who was clearly thinking ahead, told everyone that presents for him were NOT allowed, that he had certainly already gotten all he ever needed from his "new job's sign-on bonus", but Myles insisted.

They watched Benji open the poorly wrapped gift (that was clearly wrapped in paper that had come from one of the gifts they had just opened).. and everyone burst into laughter as one of Myles' precious frogs leapt out of the box and hopped in terror towards the kitchen.

There was a minor rodeo as the frog was corralled, and Benji insisted Myles take it back and put it back with it's froggy friends. The gift, however, was a roaring success, because it cheered even Bennie up.

Playtime began, and nobody noticed that Shaylee and Marnie had disappeared together until there was a ringing bell from the direction of the kitchen.

With shock, they realized they were getting a full holiday meal courtesy of Shaylee and Marnie, with ingredients Benji and Shaylee had thoughtfully brought in a small cooler that nobody had noticed.

The large family gathered around the flimsy table, and Bennie was seen helping the one of the twins into their high chair (although it's anyone's guess whether or not he actually knew which one he was holding..)

The happy twins were eventually shuffled off to bed, and Benji, Marnie, and Shaylee helped tuck in all the rest of the youngsters, then meticulously take down the tree. Marnie insisted that she would take care of the dishes in the morning, and sent Benji and Shaylee home with thanks and hugs. Nobody paid any attention to the two of them after they left the front door with assurances that they could take care of the tree and the cooler on their own.

It wasn't until the next morning that Bennie found a notice in the mail... the bills had been paid. For two weeks....!

On the way back to the city, Shaylee and Benji giggled and whispered to each other the whole way, clearly riding on a high from the day. The proceeds from last night's heist at the Landgraab's vacant home had paid off handsomely. They knew they were in the clear because of club member Londyn's surprising contact at the alarm company, that had made sure everything went smoothly. The Landgraabs would certainly be in for a surprise when they got home from their holiday vacation, but with no evidence other than missing things, there was little they could go on. It seemed almost too good to be true.. but Benji's new "job" was a huge success. They arrived home, rode the elevator to their apartment, and climbed the stairs contentedly. Everyone else seemed to already be in bed, so they climbed into their bed contentedly and were fast asleep in moments. It had, after all, been a long 24 hours for them.

Bonus Image:

(Jaz did finally get to meet Father Winter, but only because she had gotten up to go pee in the middle of the night. Of course, I let her ask for a gift before he disappeared.. but I decided to not include the image in the chapter because - after all - the real Santa was Benji.)

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